Pringle T-shirt declares itself independent

The brand best known for its golf attire has jumped on the political bandwagon, discovers Greg Gordon

Best known for its golden smoked haddock and a football team that thrashed Aberdeen’s Bon Accord by a margin of 36 goals 120 years ago, the town of Arbroath is an unlikely source of artistic inspiration.

Fashion people, though, are different from regular folk, and pride themselves on an ability to cast their eyes over the most improbable of sources in order to shuck out highly priced, sloganeering T-shirts to an adoring and unquestioning public.

It’s hardly a surprise, then, that the knitwear giants Pringle should eschew its customary Begbie-friendly diamond patterning this season to produce a garment adorned with words from the Declaration of Arbroath, seen by many as the founding document of the Scottish nation.

In an industry that tends to favour the slim, it’s a brave move. Pithy political slogans — who could forget “Free Nelson Mandela” or “Coal not Dole” — looked great on even waif-like bodies. By